The Katingan
does not know the art of doing inlaid work on the blade of the parang, in
which Kenyahs and Kayans excel, and he makes no earthen ware. Hair that
has been cut from the head must be placed in a tree. Their sacred number
is seven, as is that of the Ot-Danum, Kapuas, and Kahayan. As usual with
Dayaks, all members of the family eat at the same time as the men. Sons
and daughters inherit equally, while brothers and sisters receive nothing
unless the deceased was childless.
The father of a young man must arrange the payment for the bride, and
probably receives remuneration himself for the service rendered. The
son-in-law remains in the house of his father-in-law a year or more and
assists him. A raja was privileged to have five or six wives.
During the period of pregnancy both wife and husband are subject to the
following restrictions:
1. They must not split firewood, otherwise harelip will result, or a child
with double thumbs.
2. The arms or legs must not be cut off from any animal caught, else the
child will have stumps of arms or legs.
3. When fish has been caught the couple must not open the head themselves;
if they do the child will be born without ears.
4. The husband must not make fish hooks, or the child will be born doubled
up in a wrong position, perhaps causing the mother's death.
5. Neither of them may stretch up either arm to take food from the hanging
trays of bamboo, called toyang. Should they do so the child will come into
the world arm first, or probably not be born.
6. They must not nail up boxes or anything else (nails were formerly of
wood), nor tie up anything, - for instance, a rattan for drying
clothes, - nor lock a trunk, else the child will not be born and the mother
will die.
7. In case of feeling hot, if he or she should take off their upper
garments they must not be tied round the neck, or the child will be born
dead, with the navel cord around its neck.
8. The work of tying split bamboo sticks into loose mats, for instance
such as are used in the bottom of the prahu, must not be done, or the
child will be born with two and two or all four fingers grown together.
9. They must not put the cork in a bottle or place the cover on a bamboo
basket containing rice in order to close it for a considerable time, as in
that case the child will be born blind in one or both eyes, or with one
ear, one nostril, or the rectum closed, but the cover may be put back on a
basket from which rice is taken for daily use.
10. For five months the work of putting a handle on a parang and fastening
it with damar must not be done else both mother and child would die.
The name given the child when the umbilical cord is cut remains unchanged.
Among names in vogue here for men are Bugis (black), Spear, Axe, Duhong
(ancient knife), etc., Tingang and other names of birds, or names taken
from animals, fish, trees, and fruit; many are called Peti, the Malay name
for a steel trunk sold by traders. A person must not give his own name nor
call by the name of his father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law,
grandfather or grandmother, whether they are alive or dead. If one of
these names is given there will be no luck, for instance, in fishing or
hunting.
There are many sorts of pali (sins) but all may be paid for in kind or by
sacrifice. One of the most serious is that of a widow who marries before
the second funeral of her husband has been solemnised. Although the rule
does not apply to husband and wife, a man is forbidden to touch a woman's
dress and vice versa, and transgression must be made good by sacrifice of
a fowl or even a pig. In case a chavat or other article of clothing
belonging to a man has been hung to dry after washing, and a woman other
than his wife wishes to take the garment from the rattan line, she must
use a stick for the purpose.
Every big tree is believed to have an antoh in possession of it, some
being well disposed, others of evil disposition. When a man is killed by
falling from a tree, members of his family come and proceed to hit it with
darts blown from the sumpitan, cut it with parangs, spear it, and as final
punishment it is felled. Many people gather, angry with the tree antoh,
and a feast is made for the purpose of calling a good spirit to drive away
or kill the bad one.
When a large tree falls no work is done for seven days. House building
must cease and sacrificial offerings of pork and tuak are made to a good
antoh to induce him to deal with the evil one that caused the mishap.
Travellers who encounter omen birds, or hear the cry of a rusa at noon, or
similar omens, camp for three days and then proceed to the nearest kampong
to buy fowl, a pig, and eggs, in order to sacrifice not only to the bird
or animal that gave the omen, but also to the good antoh which sent it.
Seven days afterward the journey is continued.
When a plandok (mouse-deer) appears underneath a house the owner is sure
to die unless proper remedies are employed.
